268 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY FOR NURSES 



cartilaginous septum; upon the outer walls of each fossa, 

 in the dried skull, are three projecting processes, termed 

 spongy or turbinated bones. In the fresh fossa these are 

 covered by a mucous membrane. 



The space that intervenes between the superior and 

 middle spongy bones is termed the superior meatus, or 

 channel ; the space between the middle and inferior bones, 

 the middle meatus; and that between the inferior bone and 

 the floor of the fossa, the inferior meatus. The meatuses 

 are passages that extend backward from the nostrils; 

 they contain several openings. They are lined by a 

 mucous membrane, called the pituitary, or Schneiderian 

 membrane (from Schneider, who first showed that the 

 secretion of the nasal fossae proceeded from the mucous 

 membrane, and not from the brain, as was formerly 

 taught). 



Upon the mucous membrane of the nasal passage the 

 olfactory nerve and also branches from other nerves 

 ramify. This membrane is quite extensive in man, and is 

 even more so in those animals whose sense of smell is 

 very acute. 



THE ORGANS OF TOUCH 



The sense of touch or palpable feeling is the one by 

 which the mind becomes acquainted with some of the 

 properties of bodies; thus, it enables us to determine 

 whether their surfaces are smooth or rough, their relative 

 temperature, and, to a certain degree, also their form and 

 weight. The skin, which is the principal seat of the 

 sense of touch, has been described in a previous chapter. 



Some physiologists make a distinction between the 

 sense of touch and of tact. Tact, or feeling, is a more gen- 

 eral faculty, extending over the whole surface of the skin 

 and mucous membranes, whereas touch is confined chiefly 

 to the fingers of man and the noses of quadrupeds. Tact 



